Don Treeger/The RepublicanWestfield's Joe Mead will be out 4-6 weeks with a broken jaw suffered against Commerce on December 22.

The story isn't new but the video of the incident certainly is, posted on youtube on Thursday.

On December 22 Westfield's Joe Meade, one of the top big men in WMass was punched in the jaw by Commerce senior Sharvin Sands.

Meadesuffered a broken jaw and will be lucky to return to his undefeated Westfield Bomber team before the WMass Tournament.

Sands was disciplined under MIAA rules and suspended two games for the incident. He has since returned to the Commerce line-up.

The cell phone video shows players from both teams pushing and shoving following a loose ball scrum. Meade appears to attempt to come to a teammates aid, and Sharvin reacted by punching Meade in the jaw.

The incident is of course unfortunate, especially considering one of the top players in the area will miss most of his junior season. But it's even more unfortunate that some high school athletes feel the need to react so quickly with violence.

This is not a situation that is exclusive to Commerce high school or to an inner city high school as some have suggested.

I can promise you I have covered more high school games in my career than any of my contemporaries in WMass, and I've seen this kind of behavior on every level.

And it's not just reserved for what happens on the field or in this case on the court. It happens in the stands and outside arenas in cities and towns all over New England.

In my view the conversation needs to be moved forward with discussing the punishment that was handed out in this case.

A two game suspension is nothing more than a slap in the face, no pun intended, to all players and coaches in our area.

Sharvin Sands is the latest player caught on video behaving badly. But any athlete who deliberately hits an opposing player should be suspended for the rest of the season.

Commerce Principal Paul Nycz released a statement regarding the incident that said the two game suspension, 'sends a strong message that aggressive behavior of any kind is not tolerated'.

In this case Commerce acted within the letter of the MIAA law, and lost a great opportunity to send a strong message to its student-athletes about what constitutes proper behavior.

This was an unfortunate incident for all of us who follow high school sports.. It was also a missed opportunity, a teaching moment, for all the kids who play sports in WMass.